The present invention relates to a drum winding apparatus preferably for use with an elevator system for moving a lift unit or elevator cage upward and downward.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 63-160995 describes a drum winding unit having a cylindrical drum in which a motor and a reducer are housed, for use in an elevator system to wind and unwind a wire that is connected at one end to a lift unit and at an opposite end to the drum. In this drum winding unit, for the purpose of maintenance and inspection of a drive unit disposed inside the drum, the drive unit should be extracted from and then inserted into the drum. In this instance, support members used to support the drum against a fixed structure must be removed to give access to the drive unit. Hence, particularly where there is little space around the drum winding unit, as is often experienced with a self-driven elevator system in which the drum winding apparatus is fixed to the lift unit, the extraction and insertion procedures are accompanied with considerable difficulty.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. To this end, a drum winding apparatus of the present invention has first and second supports. A cylindrical hollow drum having first and second ends is rotatably supported by the first and second supports, respectively. Also, the first end of the drum is defined with an opening. A bracket is fixed to the first support. A drive unit, which is inserted through the opening and housed in the drum, has a motor and an output shaft rotated by the motor. The drive unit is fixed to the bracket and the output shaft is detachably fixed to the second end of the drum so that a rotation of the output shaft is transmitted to the drum. In particular, the apparatus is designed so that the drive unit can be inserted and extracted through the opening of the drum while maintaining the drum in its operable position.
In another aspect of the present invention, the second end of the drum is supported by the second support through the output shaft and detachably fixed to the output shaft.